The name had poppedfrom my mouth without thought. I was sure Riley’s shocked expression mirrored my own. But he recovered faster than I did.
“How do you know?” he asked.
I waved a hand as if I could erase my words from the air. No luck. They hung in the thick silence between us. I pulled my uniform away from my chest. The fabric peeled off my sweaty skin. Why was this room so hot?
He squinted at me; his demeanor stiff and cold. “Are you a spy?”
“No. Domotor told me the names, but I don’t care.”
“I see.” His tone implied otherwise.
“Look. I’m just a stupid scrub. Domotor wanted me to help him and he offered to give me information on my birth parents as a bribe. Except I don’t care who they are or why they abandoned me in the lower levels. I’m helping him for my friend Cog. End of discussion.”
Understanding lit his eyes and another emotion softened his posture. When I realized he pitied me, I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from punching Riley in the face.
“Since we already did a partial board-ectomy, let’s just move on. What do you say, Sheepy?” Riley pressed his nose against the sheep’s as if communicating with the stuffed toy telepathically. He pursed his lips and nodded. “Sheepy says he’s hungry.” He quirked a smile at me. “Sorry. Oh… wait.” Once again, Riley stared at his toy. “Sheepy also says he doesn’t believe you’re a stupid scrub. In fact, he thinks you’re quite smart and if you say otherwise, he’ll bite you on the leg.”
Amused, I huffed in mock outrage. “Tell Sheepy that if he bits me on the leg, I’ll send Zippy after him.”
“Zippy?”
“My little cleaning troll. He has a nasty habit of shredding dust bunnies.”
He laughed. “Sheepy’s not going to back down. He meant what he said.” All humor evaporated from Riley. He pressed fingers into his right temple, wincing in pain. “My break’s over. I need to return to my station.” He met my gaze. “Did you come here for a reason?”
“Yes. I need help…” How should I phrase the request?
“Name it.”
I stared at him. He used the exact same words I had when talking to Cog. Did he overhear us?
“What? Did you expect me to say no?” His confusion seemed genuine.
“I…”
“I have to go.”
I told him about needing a computer, but didn’t mention Logan by name. Instead, I called him a colleague. “Preferably one located in an isolated area.”
“I’ll see what I can do, and let you know during my next shift.” He strode to the door.
“How?”
He paused with his hand on the knob. “Come to our room, I’ll try and schedule my break time to coincide with your visit again, but you might have to wait a bit.”
“You knew I was here?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He gave me a mischievous smile. “Sheepy told me.”
On my way back to level two, I checked to see what I had netted in the laundry chute. A couple shirts, three pants, a handful of under garments and a Pop Cop’s uniform. I debated about the uniform as I sent the rest down. It could be a great disguise, but it also could be trouble. Did the Pop Cops keep track of their uniforms? Did they all recognize each other by sight? If a person wore a white kitchen uniform, I wouldn’t know if they were scrub or spy. Postponing my decision, I re-rigged the net and left the uniform within its black web.
I stopped at the cafeteria, pushing my way through the miasma of so many people gathered together. When I reached the serving scrub who had mentioned the clogged air shaft, I paused.
“You’re problem is fixed,” I said.
